


The Joys Of Fatherhood

by Wittywit



Series: Red Hood VS Robin [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Bludhaven Police Department, Damian Wayne Loves Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian doesn't know yet, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd are Siblings, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Jason and Damian are living together, F/M, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne Bonding, Jason Todd Is Trying His Best, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Damian Wayne's Parent, Jason Todd is Damian's biological father, Other, Police Officer Dick Grayson, Roy Harper & Jason Todd Bromance, Tim Drake Needs Help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25118758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wittywit/pseuds/Wittywit
Summary: It's been a whole month since Jason Todd found out he's Damian's biological father and he's trying his best to be a good one... Damian is not making it easy.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul/Jason Todd
Series: Red Hood VS Robin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819420
Comments: 128
Kudos: 467
Collections: Fan Fiction Addiction





	1. Jason makes a good butler

“Jason, thank you for reminding me how much I missed living with a butler” said Dick gleefully, strolling into the kitchen, where he found eggs, bacon, toast, and chocolate chip muffins, as well as Damian’s favorite, freshly made apple juice, all sitting deliciously on the kitchen counter, waiting to be devoured.

When Jason moved into his apartment in Bludhaven about a month ago, in many ways, Dick expected their little co-habitation experiment to turn into a massive disaster. But to everybody’s amazement, not only it didn’t end in someone’s murder, but it made Dick’s life about a thousand times easier than it was before.

Each morning, Jason would wake up at the crack of dawn and prepare a breakfast that would make even the toughest critic, like Alfred, shed a tear of pride. But it wasn’t just the cooking that made Jason the best roommate in the world.

In addition to working two jobs (police officer and Nightwing), Dick also had to take care of his finances, clean the house, and be a parent to a _very_ defiant eleven year old, all by himself. Now… he couldn’t even remember when was the last time he did the laundry or washed the dishes. Jason was the one taking care of everything, including Damian.

That meant that Dick no longer had to attend school meetings and deal with angry teachers, or worry about Damian skipping school and failing classes because Jason was now in charge of _everything_. And he was surprisingly good at it, too!

“I love you, Jason” said Dick with hearts in his eyes while taking a big bite of bacon.

“Keep it in your pants, _Dick_ ” Jason rolled his eyes, “If you’re really thankful, you should get a new couch because if I sleep in that one for another week, I don’t think I’ll live to watch Damian turn twelve”

“Noted!” Dick shook his head. He would agree on anything if it meant enjoying this type of high-quality services for at least a few more months.

Damian’s bedroom door creaked open and a few seconds later, the boy appeared in the hallway, looking all sweaty and out of breath.

“How was your workout?” Jason asked him.

“Lacking…” hissed Damian, “My room has no space for a real training”

“It ain't no batcave, that’s for sure” shrugged Dick.

“I packed your lunch.” Jason pointed at Damian’s briefcase that the boy still insisted on taking to school instead of a backpack. “Avocado sandwiches with no crust and a banana smoothie.”

“Why bother? I’ll just toss it in the trash” said Damian, rolling his eyes. He was lying. He never actually threw away Jason’s lunches. He ate them every single day. He even liked them. But Jason didn't have to know that.

The boy turned around and went to get a shower.

Even after a month, Jason still couldn’t allow himself to tell the truth to Damian. Every now and then, usually when Damian was acting particularly bratty, he wanted to grab him and yell the truth at his face, but the words would always stop at his throat, suffocating him. He was terrified of the boy’s reaction. Damian didn't get along well with Bruce but he loved the status that came from being Batman’s only biological son. Finding out that this wasn’t true and instead his real father was the black sheep of the family, wouldn’t be easy news to swallow. So that's why, Jason was determined to prove to Damian and to himself that he wasn't a complete screw up before coming out with the big news.

“This is pointless…” Jason threw himself over the counter, once Damian was out of earshot, “it’s been a month and he still treats me like I barely exist”

Sensing that it was up to him to quickly defuse the situation, Dick struggled to swallow an impressively big bite of toast, and said, “It’s been only a month, Jay. It took him two months to listen to a word I said. Don’t lose hope, you’re doing great” Dick thought to add something along the lines of, “ _please don’t leave me! I need you so much!_ ” but deep down he already knew that Jason wasn’t going to quit any time soon.

“Stubborn little jerk! Why does he have to be so much like me?” Jason cried, banging his head against the kitchen counter.

“Karma is a bitch” said Dick very matter-of-factly, and continued to enjoy his breakfast.

When Damian got out of the shower, he appeared to be in a far better mood. He made his way back into the kitchen, where Dick was now finishing off his coffee and Jason was just standing there, his eyes fixed on the wall across from him, for no apparent reason. He climbed up onto a chair next to Dick and pulled a plate in front of him. Because even though Damian lied every day about throwing away Jason’s lunches, he didn’t feel the need to do the same about Jason’s breakfasts… or dinners. After all, he had to eat something.

“School is such a waste of my time” he complained, “That's seven hours out of my training!”

Dick sighed. It was a sigh of relief. He had about ten thousand conversations with Damian on this topic since the day they met but now, it was Jason’s turn to try and explain to this stubborn eleven year old why graduating middle school was quite important.

“Are you kidding me? I would do anything to go back to school!” said Jason, pulling himself out of his trance. “I was a straight A student _and_ captain of the basketball team in my senior year!” he bragged.

“I know it sounds like a lie, but he’s telling the truth” confirmed Dick with a shrug.

“If I didn’t die, I would probably go to an Ivy league college, unlike Mr. Drop out here” Jason turned to Dick with an evil smile on his face. He could still remember the blissful day when Bruce finally figured out that his golden boy had quit college after only one semester. Best. Day. Ever.

“Hey! I did graduate the police academy!” said Dick indignantly, flashing his badge at them.

“Point is, Damian, you’re going to school because those are going to be the best years of your life! Which reminds me, the basketball team has tryouts next week!” Jason quickly adopted a more serious tone.

Damian rolled his eyes, “for the last time, I refuse to participate in such a mindless activity”

“You need at least one extracurricular activity, so you are going!” said Jason and sensing that Damian was ready to start a fight, he added, “Plus, playing basketball is a Robin thing. Both Dick and I were captains in our senior year!”

Dick and Jason shared a fist bump that made Damian throw up in his mouth a little bit.

“It’s not a Robin thing. Drake didn’t play” he pointed out.

“Really? What did Tim do in high school?” for some reason Jason looked almost betrayed by those news.

“He ran track…” said Dick, also looking very disappointed at Tim for somehow denying his Robin legacy by not playing basketball.

“That’s why he’s still three inches tall. Don’t be like Tim!” Jason waved a warning finger at Damian, “You’re going to those tryouts and I will coach you myself if I have to!”

Jason was getting a tad too enthusiastic about the prospect of his son playing basketball and Dick could already imagine him yelling and screaming from the side lines of every game, along with all the other insane parents. He must’ve gotten that from Bruce, he thought. Bruce didn’t come to many of their games, but when he did, he took them _very_ seriously…

“I can try out for the wrestling team” Damian suggested an alternative.

“No!” Dick and Jason barked at him in unison.

“Come on, kid, let’s make basketball a Robin thing and leave Tim out of it” said Jason, knowing very well that Damian would like the sound of those words.

And sure enough, he was right.

“Fine…” growled Damian, “I’ll show those Bludhaven runts how Robins play ball” 

“That’s my boy!” Jason smiled proudly.

“Not your boy” Damian corrected him at once, but Jason’s happiness was so big, even that couldn’t spoil his mood.

* * *

After Dick and Damian left for work and school respectively, Jason opened his laptop and quickly started going through his e-mails. Cooking, cleaning, and trying to be a father was not the only things he did while living in Bludhaven. He didn’t tell Dick, though to be fair, his brother had probably already guessed it, but he was looking for Talia. Even with all his memories back, he still had so many questions and Talia was the only one with all the answers.

But since he couldn’t ask the help of the best detective in the world, he had to settle for the help of the second best.

Timmy, who originally claimed to be studying computer science in the University of London, was in fact touring Europe along with Stephanie. Jason didn’t ask why he chose to go on a vacation without telling the rest of the family because he knew fully well that Tim wouldn’t tell him the truth anyway. The kid was fine and that was all that mattered.

Jason opened Tim’s message and started reading impatiently,

> Dear least favorite brother,
> 
> Things are going well and Madrid officially has the best coffee I’ve ever tried so far.
> 
> Your friend was last seen a week ago at a small town close to Valencia; she left about twenty corpses on her way out. Looking at all her recent travels, France, Greece, Turkey, Italy, and now Spain, I have theories over what she’s looking for and I’m afraid I don’t like what I’m seeing. I will write to you once I have something more concrete.
> 
> Hope you’re well and enjoying the joys of fatherhood. 
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Best detective in Europe.

Jason rolled his eyes at his little brother and instantly began typing,

> Dear Best detective in Europe,
> 
> I’m glad you’re having a good time but please cut down on all those coffees. They will stunt your growth… and you could really use a couple more inches.
> 
> You’ve been saying the same thing for the last two weeks. If you have theories, share them with me because I have none.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Your least favorite brother.
> 
> P.S. Why the hell didn’t you play basketball in high school?

Jason was about to press sent, when the doorbell rang. That was unusual. They never had people over.

He pulled a gun out of his pocket, walked to the front door, and leaned closer to peek through the peephole. All he could see was the back of someone's head. They had red hair and a very out of style baseball cap.

“Roy?” 


	2. Trouble From Gotham

“Jaybird! You’re alive!” Roy Harper, also known as Arsenal, catapulted himself onto Jason, as soon as the door opened.

“What the hell are you doing here?” asked Jason, trying to push his best (only) friend away from him.

“I’m here to save you, of course!” announced Roy heroically.

“From what?” asked Jason incredulously.

Roy looked around the apartment as if he was trying to find some potential threat. There was nothing.

“I don’t know…” he admitted, “but something must be up. Why else would you agree to stay _here_? Blink twice if you are held captive?”

Jason rolled his eyes. It was touching that someone would go into all the trouble of looking for him if he suddenly went missing, but Roy, as always, had really bad timing.

“I told you, I’m working on something,” he sighed.

“Yeah, but it’s been over a month!” said Roy miserably, “And since when do you and I have secrets?”

Jason fell quiet. For a second he entertained the idea of telling Roy the truth, but a part of him felt that this information should be kept a secret. After all, it wouldn’t be fair for Damian to be the last person to find out. But on the other hand, Alfred, Bruce, Dick, and Tim already knew, and Roy was family to him just as much as they were.

“I’m here for my son” he blurted out.

“Say what now?” Roy leaned closer, thinking he clearly must’ve misheard Jason’s words. He didn’t.

“I’m here for my son” Jason repeated, this time allowing himself to enjoy the feeling of those words coming out of his mouth.

“ _You got someone pregnant?_ ” Roy whispered so quietly that Jason was forced to read his lips. 

“Yes, a long time ago.”

“The bat is gonna kill you! I know he doesn’t kill, but he _will_ kill you!” Roy was now starting to freak out. “Is that why you’re hiding?”

“I’m not hiding! And Bruce already knows,” that last phrase came out more bitterly than Jason had intended for it. He and Bruce were avoiding each other since the day Jason got his memories back.

“Okay... So, where’s the kid? Does he live here?” Roy scanned the apartment with his eyes, searching for what he thought was a cute little baby.

Jason motioned his friend to take a seat on the couch. He then took a deep breath, and without further ado went into explaining all the things that happened to him in the last several weeks, including the flask, his lost memories from the League of Assassins, his relationship with Talia al Ghul, and of course, Damian. With each word, Roy’s expression grew darker and darker, so much that by the end of it, he looked almost identical to Bruce.

“Dude… you had sex with your dad’s ex?” were the first words that came out of Roy’s mouth once Jason finished his story, although he couldn’t tell if he sounded impressed or genuinely disturbed.

“In my defense, when we first met, I didn’t know she was his ex,” said Jason truthfully.

Roy nodded skeptically.

“So, the most annoying kid on the planet, is my nephew?” he asked with a pained expression on his face. “You know, I always hoped that one day, we would have kids and they, too, would be friends… ”

Jason tried his best to suppress a laugh, “Wow, Roy. I never knew you had such dreams.”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure I want that anymore… no offense” said Roy with a playful smile. “You make scary kids, my friend.”

Jason was hoping that after this wellbeing check-in, Roy would hop on his bike and go back to Gotham, but his friend had other plans.

“I followed the Cruz crime family from Gotham all the way here. They are small fish and so far they’ve done only low level jobs, but apparently, things are looking up for them. They expect a large shipment of drugs to arrive tonight,” said Roy, switching to his business-like tone. “Wanna have some fun like the old days?”

“I thought you came here because you were worried about me…” Jason teased him.

“I was!” Roy quickly defended himself, “But you know, two Jaybirds… one stone.”

Jason heard a key enter the lock of the front door. His eyes travelled to the clock hanging over the TV. It was four in the afternoon. That could only mean one thing: Damian was back from school.

“How was school?” he asked.

Damian stepped inside and with his laser-like eyes, scanned the entire living room and kitchen area. 

Roy sat up and smoothed his shirt as if he was trying to make a good first impression, because even though he met Damian several times before, it was his first time seeing him as Jason’s son. He hated to admit it, but the more he looked at the kid, the more he couldn’t believe that all this time he didn’t notice how much he resembled Jason. From the messy dark hair, all the way to the snarky glow in the eyes, that kid was definitely a Todd.

“Boring,” answered Damian stiffly, choosing to ignore Roy’s existence.

“Roy brought us a new case” said Jason, after a brief moment of awkward silence.

Damian didn’t seem to care much about those news.

“There’s only one couch in this house, and it’s taken,” he said instead.

“Nice to see you, too, Damian!” said Roy, with mock politeness.

Damian ignored him once again. He wheeled around and marched towards his bedroom.

“Nice kid,” Roy patted his friend on the back.

* * *

It was ten o’clock in the evening and Dick had just finished putting on his Nightwing costume, and was going over the information about the Cruz family that Roy followed from Gotham. Normally, this case wouldn’t interest him much, especially since Gotham was no longer in his jurisdiction and Roy was already there to deal with it.

But as luck would have it, that same morning he received a tip about a drug deal between an anonymous supplier and Ronald Desmond, more famously known as the Blockbuster. If that anonymous supplier was the Cruz crime family, he had every right to get involved.

“Okay, guys!” Dick stood in the middle of the living room, his eyes moving over the faces in front of him, examining each of them one by one. Cramped together on Dick’s only couch, sat Damian, Jason, and, to Damian’s great disgust, Roy. They were all in their costumes, looking like children during Halloween, as they sat quietly, waiting to hear his plan.

“Thanks to Roy’s intel, we know that a large shipment of drugs will be arriving tonight at the docks. The shipment will be taken by members of the Cruz crime family and if my theory is correct, will then be transferred to Ronald Desmond’s casino.”

Dick paused. It’s been a while since he last led a team and he was very pleased that up until this point, nobody seemed willing to interrupt or disagree with his instructions.

“I will need two teams for this mission” he continued carefully, “team A, will be in charge of monitoring the deal from the docks. You will let the deal happen and allow the truck to continue its way. After the truck is gone, you will be arresting the smugglers. And as for team B, we will be stationed at the casino and make the arrests for both the Cruz family and Ronald Desmond. Roy and I will be on team B”

“No way!” Damian instantly jumped on his feet.

“Damian…” Dick began but the boy quickly interrupted him.

“ _I’m_ your partner, not this _imbecile_!” Damian pointed directly at Roy, “He shouldn’t even be in this tonight!”

“I can’t take a kid inside a casino…” explained Dick patiently. “Plus, if it weren’t for Roy, we wouldn’t even have this case.”

“It’s okay. He can go with you if he wants,” said Jason lightly, “I can do this without the kid.”

Just as he expected, those words had a strong effect on Damian and his ego.

“Like you could do anything right without me,” he hissed.

“I’ve done fine on my own for years” Jason continued in the same indifferent tone, knowing exactly how much it bothered Damian.

“You must have a very loose definition of the word ‘ _fine_ ’, Todd” Damian shot back at him.

“Okay, so it’s set! Damian you go with Jason!” said Dick and before Damian found a new topic to protest, he motioned Roy to follow him.

* * *

Jason and Damian arrived at the port by eleven thirty, just as it was planned. For several minutes they walked around the narrow alleyways created by the stacks of large shipping containers, searching for the warehouse, where according to Roy, members of the Cruz crime family were supposed to arrive sometime after midnight.

“We’re here,” spoke Jason.

 _“Good. I have my eyes on Desmond,"_ Dick’s voice came through his earpiece.

Jason and Damian climbed about 30ft off the ground on top of a stack of shipping containers, across from the warehouse, and lied down in silence. Now, all they had to do was wait.

“Did you do well on your math test today?” asked Jason casually, pointing his riffle at the warehouse’s entrance.

Damian groaned instead of a reply.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’,” muttered Jason and continued in the same tone, “Did you finish your book report?”

“No. It’s due on Friday,” replied Damian, clearly annoyed by the questions.

“And today is Wednesday” Jason turned to the kid, “That assignment will be 10% of you final grade, so you better take it seriously.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “stop doing that!”

Jason's face contorted with confusion, but due to his helmet, Damian couldn't see it.

“Doing what?” he asked.

“Talking to me like you care!” the boy hissed. “We’re not family, so leave me alone!”

Jason would never think that a day would come when he would feel grateful to see bad guys. But today was that glorious day. A large white truck appeared from the end of the street. It made several circles around a series of shipment containers and eventually stopped right next to the warehouse.

From inside the warehouse, quickly emerged a group of five people. Three men and two women, all dressed in black. Jason was far enough to not be able to make out their faces, but there was something about those people that seemed to him awfully familiar.

“They are from the League” Damian's voice came from beside him. He sounded very taken aback.

The kid was right. The woman with the brown hair, that was now shaking hands with the truck driver, was named Vale. He trained alongside her for over a year and last time he saw her, she was working closely with Talia.

The League of Assassins was now participating in drug deals? Was Talia aware of it? Jason and Damian seemed to be wondering the same thing.

The truck driver, a plump, young man, along with two other members of the Cruz family, opened the trailer doors and climbed inside.

“That doesn’t look like drugs” commented Damian, watching two of the Assassins pull a long wooden box out of the truck and wheel it carefully inside the warehouse.

“More like a coffin…” muttered Jason, feeling a twist in his stomach.

This wasn’t part of the plan. The Cruz family was supposed to load the drugs into their truck and continue their merry way to the casino where Dick and Roy would arrest them along with Roland Desmond. Roy didn’t mention anything about coffins or the League of Assassins.

It wasn’t long before the Assassins appeared again, each one of them was holding a large bag of what had to be drugs. The thought of the League of Assassins involving themselves in drug deals made Jason’s stomach turn, but at the moment the only thing that mattered to him was that coffin. He had to see what was inside.

The Assassins and the Cruz family were all too busy loading the truck with the drugs, so this was his perfect chance.

“Stay here and _don’t move_ ,” he waved a warning finger at Damian, before crawling to the back and with the help of the batrope, he made his way down to the ground.

He ran behind the warehouse, pushed a window open, and squeezed himself through. Things like that used to be so much easier when he was just a small and skinny kid. 

He hid behind some containers and watched as the Assassins came back and forth with those large bags. On the other side of the room, he could clearly see the wooden box, lying on top of a table. If his suspicions about this box were true, he would probably have to call Bruce.

Once the Assassins finished loading the truck, they all went out of the warehouse, leaving Jason alone. Soon after, he heard the truck engine start.

This was his one chance to ambush them from behind.

With one gun on each hand, he ran to the entrance, past the box. He was about to start shooting when all of the sudden, a series of screams, followed by gunfire echoed through the night.

 _“Damian…”_ he instantly thought to himself and ran outside, just in time to watch his son jump from the roof of the warehouse to the top of a moving truck. Bullets flying everywhere.

“ _I’m gonna kill him! I’m gonna kill him! I’m so gonna kill him!_ ” Jason was chanting under his breath, as he ran behind the truck, while also trying to avoid bullets coming from both the Assassins and from the Cruz family that were now driving furiously between the stacks of containers.

 _The plan was to let the truck go, not stop it! What was this kid thinking?!_ Jason was furious.

Eventually, Jason managed to grab the side of the truck and climb all the way to the top.

The boy had already reached the front of the truck and was getting ready to punch his way inside, when Jason caught his cape and pulled him back.

“YOU ARE SO GROUNDED!” he roared in his face, pinning down Damian with one hand and shooting at the windshield with other.

The truck started making sudden turns left and right, while the men inside the vehicle unleashed a storm of bullets upon them. Jason covered Damian with his body and held on to the side of the truck, waiting for all fire to cease, before attempting a second attack.

Eventually, the truck crashed into one of the metal containers with a loud _bang_.

Jason pulled himself up and looked around him. The Assassins were nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Damian's Secret.


	3. Damian's Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains a brief description of an injury and blood.

By the time Dick and Roy arrived to the port, Jason had tied the three members of the Cruz crime family to their truck, went back to the warehouse to make sure that the Assassins and the box had already disappeared, and for the last ten minutes was screaming at Damian at the top of his lungs.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW IMPORTANT WAS THAT BOX?” he roared. “WHY DIDN’T YOU LISTEN?! WHY DON’T YOU EVER LISTEN?!”

Damian, who seemed to have no interest in defending his actions, simply stood there, leaning against a shipping container, trying his best to tune out Jason’s voice.

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?” Jason went on, “YOU KNEW THE PLAN! BUT YOU STILL HAD TO BE A SMARTASS BRAT AND HAVE YOUR WAY!”

“They took out their guns and were about to shoot the Assassins,” Damian finally said, in a low sort of whisper.

Jason’s voice died in his throat. He opened his mouth, but after not coming up with anything to say, closed it again.

What he really wanted to say was, “so what?” but chose not to.

Damian made the right decision, according to Batman’s code. Jason on the other hand, didn’t really believe in that code. He made a promise to Bruce that he wouldn’t kill anyone, but if criminals wanted to kill each other, that was their business. In fact, it made his work a whole lot easier. Those were his honest thoughts; but, he knew he shouldn’t share them with Damian.

Dick rushed over to them, seized Jason by the upper arm, and pulled him aside.

“There are no drugs,” he said.

Jason raised his eyebrows, more confused than ever before.

“Then what’s in the bags?”

“Plain flour,” answered Dick, unable to keep a straight face, “Those wannabe criminals, looked just as surprised when I told them.”

“Great, now the League of Assassins will be known as a bunch of scammers,” said Jason, shaking his head, even though he was glad that the League didn’t suddenly get into the habit of working with drug traffickers. “So, these guys get to walk?” he pointed at the three men that were still tied up and arguing with each other, probably about the fake drugs.

“Hell no! Fake license plate, possession of illegal firearms… the list goes on,” said Dick.

Jason nodded. At least this night wasn’t a complete disaster.

“About that box…” Dick chose his next words carefully, “I think we should call Bruce.”

“No, not yet,” Jason dismissed him at once, “Talia and the League are my problem; I’ll deal with them on my own.”

Dick clearly disagreed but didn’t have the time to argue with Jason in the middle of a port at three in the morning. He had to go back to being Officer Dick Grayson and get the three men to the police station.

Jason said goodbye to his brother and Roy, who had to return back to Gotham, and motioned for Damian to follow him.

* * *

“Dick should really invest in a new couch, this is torture” Jason mumbled to himself, stretching his sore body after yet another sleepless night. No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t get that box out of his head. Talia was planning something and whatever it was, he knew he wasn’t going to like it.

He finally made his way up, feeling his age more than ever before, and slowly dragged his feet to the kitchen.

There was an eerie silence around the apartment.

Dick was still at the police station and wouldn’t return until late in the evening, and Damian was in his bedroom, probably already up for his daily workout. Normally, he would consider this silence a blessing but in the last month, he got used to the constant fights and noise that come with living with family.

Once he finished cooking (French toast with fruits and whipped cream on top), he glanced at the clock. Damian should be done with his workout any time now. He waited for another ten minutes but the boy was still nowhere to be seen.

Eventually, he walked across the hallway, where Damian’s bedroom was located, and brought himself closer to the door, expecting to hear panting, jumping, and the familiar swooshing sound of a katana. There was nothing. No sound. Nothing at all.

“That brat ran away!” was Jason’s first thought and so he forcefully made his way inside the room, his mind already going over a list of punishments to throw at the little delinquent once he got hold of him.

But to his amazement, Damian didn’t run away. He was lying on his bed, underneath a pile of blankets, breathing heavily as he slept through the sound of Jason barging into his room.

He stood still for what felt like forever, his mind trying to process the image in front of him. Damian had never slept past six in the morning and he had never missed a workout. Jason kneeled next to his son’s bed and carefully pulled the blankets to the side.

His heart skipped a beat.

Damian was lying in a pool of blood.

 _“It’s fine… leave me alone,"_ he whined weakly, as Jason lifted his shirt, searching for the source of bleeding.

It wasn’t hard to find. Starting from the center of his stomach and going all the way around to his back, was a long horizontal slash wound. It looked almost as if someone had tried to slice him in half with a sword of some kind, leading Jason to believe that there were a lot of things that took place last night, in the short time the boy was left alone.

Damian had made a secret attempt to stitch himself up, but he didn’t do a very good job. The stitches must’ve ripped open while he was asleep, hence all the bleeding.

A deep feeling of guilt crept into Jason. Not for a single second did he think last night to ask Damian if he was all right. He was so angry over losing the box that he completely lost sight of what was truly important: Damian. He was officially a failure as a father. Even Bruce, who he always criticized on his lack of parenting skills, showed more sympathy to his kids. Bruce was far from perfect, but at least he always made sure that his sons were safe and taken care of.

“I’ll be right back” Jason ran into the bathroom and returned with Dick’s emergency kit. He pulled out a needle, thread, scissors, antiseptic, a syringe, and a pack of clean bandages (Dick would always buy those in bulk).

“Your stitching skills could really use some practice,” said Jason, trying to keep his hands from shaking, as he was cleaning up Damian’s wound.

“I’ll practice on you,” the boy groaned.

Jason forced a laugh.

Thankfully, the cut wasn’t deep and didn’t damage any bones or organs, but due to the lack of proper medical care, he had lost a lot of blood.

Jason injected the tissue next to the wound with a local anesthetic and after waiting for a couple of minutes for it to settle in, he started stitching him up.

“Don’t worry, you’re in good hands,” he said bracingly.

“I doubt it…” mumbled Damian, managing to sound like his usual snarky self, despite all the blood loss and the pain he was in.

“Excuse me, young man, but I was taught by the best in the industry, Dr. Alfred Pennyworth!” said Jason indignantly.

Damian, who would often whine and complain about every little thing that bothered him, took the stitches without as much as a single sound escaping his mouth. At the beginning, Jason was proud that his son was so tough, but his heart sank lower when he later realized, that this toughness was a testament to how many injuries and pain his kid must've gone through in his short life. What kind of a father was he if he couldn't even protect his son? Maybe Bruce was right to lie to him. Maybe he just wasn't ready and Damian was better off without him.

“I have good news for you,” said Jason, wrapping Damian up in bandages like a mummy, after he finished all forty-eight stitches. “You don’t have to go to school today _and_ you get to have breakfast in bed.”

Damian nodded. Those were good news. Especially the one about not having to go to school.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he yelped, as he suddenly found himself being lifted above his bed.

“Unless you want to spend a few more hours bathing in your own blood, I’m gonna have to change those sheets,” Jason carried him to the desk chair and set him down gently, and proceeded to replace the blood stained sheets and bed covers with fresh ones from the dryer

Once he was done, he walked back to Damian holding a clean shirt for the boy to wear.

“Arms up!”

“Don’t treat me like a child,” said Damian grumpily as he raised his arms.

Jason extra carefully pulled out the old shirt, before helping the boy put on the new one.

He never liked dressing Damian, especially when he was only a few months old. He was so small and fragile and wouldn’t stop wiggling. Unlike Talia, who seemed to know how tough and resilient their kid was, Jason was terrified that he would mess up and somehow break him. A decade later and he was still that same small and fragile boy, only the wiggling had gotten a lot worse.

“All right, get some rest” Jason carried Damian back to his bed. “And whatever you do, _don’t get up!_ ”

“I’m not tired,” Damian protested.

“Then read a book,” an evil smile twitched at the corners of Jason’s mouth. He reached over to Damian’s bookshelf and pulled out Jack London’s ‘White Fang’, also known as the book Damian had to do a book report on. “There you go, buddy” he handed the book over to Damian.

“I hate you,” muttered Damian as he flipped through the pages of the book.

* * *

Jason sat on the couch for a long time, his head between his hands, contemplating over and over again what a failure he was. He then remembered that he was still waiting for a reply from Tim, so he quickly opened his laptop. No new emails.

A few groans of pain, made Jason look up.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay in bed?” he scolded Damian, watching him limp across the hallway. “Do you want those stitches to rip open again?”

Damian ignored him and continued his way, eventually reaching Jason’s couch, where he sort of plopped down.

“Any new emails from Drake?” he asked, trying to peek at Jason’s laptop.

Jason narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “how do you know I’m talking to Tim?”

Damian got a very self-satisfied smile across his face.

“Oh please… I know everything,” he bragged.

Jason eyed him for a few seconds, trying to decide if Damian had ever hacked his laptop and read any of the emails he exchanged with Tim. _‘Not a chance,’_ he concluded.

“All right, smarty-pants, since you know _everything_ , why don’t you tell me who stabbed you?”

Jason was sure Damian wouldn’t answer, but he was wrong.

“One of the Assassins, her name is Vale,” said Damian casually, playing with the buttons on his shirt.

“Why?”

“She wanted to get me back to my mother,” Damian continued in the same casual tone, “so I fought her.”

Jason was glad those words found him seated. Talia wanted Damian back...

“Why didn’t you go? Don’t you want to live with her?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.

“No,” Damian kept pulling the button on his shirt, so hard that he almost ripped it off.

“Why not?” Jason pressed on.

Damian looked up at him.

“I have to turn in a book report on Friday,” he said innocently.

"You better make it a good one," Jason smiled and a sudden idea entered his head. “Have you ever watched Star wars?”

Just as he expected, Damian shook his head.

“Well then, prepare yourself for the best sick day ever,” Jason shot up and turned on the TV.

Within minutes, there was popcorn, soda, and candy in front of them and from the TV came the Star Wars main theme, that brought chills to him every time he heard it.

He could still remember going to the cinema to watch the 2nd prequel with Bruce. Usually, they would wait for movies to come out on DVD and have a movie night at home, but it was his first year living in the Wayne manor and so Bruce decided to do something special. He made time in his busy schedule and just took his kid to the cinema, like every other normal dad.

They had just reached the end of episode five when Damian went,

“Darth Vader is his father?” his mouth fell open. “That can’t be!”

“Happens more often than you think,” said Jason bitterly, shoving popcorn into his mouth to stop himself from talking.

By the time they reached the prequels, Damian was fast asleep on the couch.

Jason paused the movie and carried him to his bed.

He was about to leave the room when the sound of his name made him stop. He had never heard Damian use it before.

“Jason,” Damian repeated.

Jason walked over to him and kneeled by his side.

“I know what was in that box,” said Damian, struggling to keep his eyes open, and before Jason had time to process that statement, he added, “It’s my grandfather’s body.”

His worst fear was confirmed. Talia was trying to resurrect Ra’s al Ghul. That's why she was in Europe. She was looking for a Lazarus pit, and judging by the fact she was attempting to move her father’s body, she probably found one.

“How do you know?” asked Jason.

“Mother told me, when she left me in Gotham,” said Damian, “She said she would bring him back and we would be a family again. But it was meant to be a secret because if Batman knew, he would stop her.”

“Do you want Batman to stop her?” Jason asked gently. He knew that no matter how he felt about Ra’s al Ghul, he was still Damian’s family and the one who raised him. The boy probably missed his grandfather a lot.

Damian didn’t answer. He closed his eyes and sank lower into his pillow.

“Thank you for Star Wars,” he muttered instead.

Jason patted Damian’s head.

“You made the right call last night, I’m sorry I yelled at you,” he watched a snarky grin form in the boy’s face. “Get some rest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The calm before the storm


	4. The Calm Before The Storm

“ _Bludhaven is a good city to raise a family in,_ ” Jason thought to himself, as he strolled around the city, stopping every once in a while to check out a restaurant or a shop he would like to visit in the future. There was a time when he used to hate Bludhaven, mostly because Dick lived in it, but now the more he walked the busy streets and observed its people, the more that city grew on him and he could even see himself moving there for good.

“ _There are good schools, parks, museums, shopping centers, and all the perks of a big city,_ ” he walked past a man urinating on the side of the street, “ _sure it’s not perfect… it has crime and crazy people, but compared to Gotham it’s heaven on earth. At least it has some sun,_ ” he concluded, glancing down at the bags he was holding, filled with all the stuff he bought.

Most of them were books he wanted Damian to read. It’s been a week since the two of them finished watching the Star Wars series, as well as every Bruce Lee movie ever made, so Jason’s new goal was to get his son hooked on Harry Potter; which was why he bought all seven books.

He also bought a goldfish, because according to Dick, Damian loved animals, and since the building had a strict ‘no pets’ rule, they had to settle for something small that didn’t bark. Maybe in the future they could get an iguana or a snake. Jason always wished he had a snake when he was a kid, but Alfred wasn’t fond of the idea. The explanation he gave back then was that every reptile reminded him of Killer Croc, but probably he just thought that taking care of a teenager was enough hard work and didn’t want to add the responsibility of taking care of another living creature.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Jason made his way into the apartment only to find his brother lying on the couch, legs lifted up on the coffee table, watching the news with a battered and exhausted look on his face.

“It’s my day off,” Dick moaned, “so don’t ruin it for me. Just pretend I’m not here.”

“Isn’t that what I always do?” Jason shot back at him, taking out the fish bowl he had just bought with one hand, and the bag with the goldfish with the other.

Dick stretched his neck to take a better look at what his brother was doing.

“What’s that?” he asked nervously.

Jason didn’t answer. He washed the bowl and filled it with clean water, before gently moving the fish inside.

“You bought a fish?” asked Dick, sounding rather disappointed, “Why would you buy a fish? They’re boring.”

Once again, Jason acted as if he had not heard him.

“Ahhhh,” he pretended to sigh in fake relief, “it’s so nice to enjoy some alone time without Dick being a total killjoy.”

Dick rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be a toddler, Jay!” he complained.

“I can’t hear anything but if _someone_ is talking, he should know that he’s an idiot,” said Jason brightly, looking directly at Dick, as though he was begging him to start a fight.

But Dick was too tired to wrestle some respect out of his brother and his apartment was too small for a play-fight that would definitely escalate into something more aggressive, so he muttered in a defeated kind of voice, “Fine, you win.”

Jason flashed a smile similar to Damian’s when he got his way.

“Meet Sparky,” he pointed at the goldfish that was now making rounds around his new home, “I got him for Damian.”

“A bunny would be more fun,” Dick noticed the other bags that were still on the floor, “please, tell me you didn’t buy a snake.”

“I wish…” said Jason earnestly, “but no, I got all seven Harry Potter books for Damian to read before we watch the movies.”

“Wow,” Dick shook his head, “I forgot you’re such a nerd.”

Jason looked down at his brother as if he would like nothing more than to throw Sparky’s bowl at his face.

“Easy there, prom king, at least I have hobbies.”

Dick’s face suddenly went very red.

“I have hobbies too,” he defended himself while trying real hard to think of some. But even after a few seconds, nothing came to mind. He did used to like a lot of things as a kid but ever since he became an adult he barely had enough time to eat or shower.

“My hobby is to save the world,” said Dick indignantly after failing to come up with something more casual.

Jason snorted at Dick’s pained expression and sat next to him on the couch. He was still waiting a reply from Tim to his latest email which was five days ago. The same night Damian told him about Talia’s plans to resurrect Ra’s al Ghul, Jason wasted no time in sharing with Tim all the information he had and asked him to keep his eye out for the coffin, for he was sure it was about resurface any day now. That information however, didn't seem to surprise Tim in the slightest, as he had long known of Talia's plans for at least the last few months.

“ _Least favorite brother_ , huh?” Dick smirked, reading the first line of Tim’s email over Jason’s shoulder, “Wonder who the _favorite_ one is…”

Jason shoved him away and concentrated on Tim’s email.

> Dear least favorite brother,
> 
> I managed to track down an object fitting the description of the coffin and according to my calculations it is set to arrive to its destination in twelve days. As for Talia, she left Madrid this morning.
> 
> I wish there was a different way to say this, but I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I think you should stay out of this case and let me and Bruce deal with Talia and Ra’s al Ghul. We all know about your relationship with Talia, and I’m afraid the bond you two share will cloud your judgment and leave you vulnerable to her manipulation. So from now on, I will not disclose any information regarding this case. I hope you understand.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Best detective in Europe.

“That little…” Jason slammed his fist on the coffee table, “what is he afraid of? That I’m gonna let Talia resurrect Ra’s al Ghul? The only reason I would ever resurrect the guy is so that I can kill him with my own hands!”

“He just probably thinks you’re too close to the case and your feelings for Talia might get the best of you,” Dick jumped into Tim’s defense.

“What feelings? I have no feelings for her! I haven’t even seen her in the last ten years!” Jason lied. He wished he had no feelings for Talia, but the memories that were returned to him, they all felt brand new. He hated to admit it, but a part of him still loved her like he did back then.

“He’s just trying to protect you,” Dick went on in the same calm and understanding tone.

“Yeah well, I’ve been _protected_ enough by Bruce,” said Jason sarcastically.

Dick looked at his brother carefully, almost trying to read his thoughts.

“So, what will you do?” he asked nervously.

“I don’t need the kid, I’m gonna find her myself,” announced Jason with the air of a man who has accomplished much harder things in his life. “I just need to call a few people,” he took out his phone and carefully started going through his contacts.

“Bruce is gonna love that” muttered Dick, getting up to pour himself another cup of coffee; he had a feeling this would be a very long day for him.

“Not if he doesn’t find out,” pointed out Jason matter-of-factly.

Dick let out a sad laugh. In all the years he knew Bruce, he had never let his kids get away with anything. After all, he was Batman, the best detective in the world.

“Good luck with that!”

The doorbell rang just as Jason was about to call Jade Nguyen, also known as Cheshire, also known as Roy’s on-again, off-again villainous girlfriend.

The two brothers exchanged a look of mutual confusion. Dick, who was closer to the door, put his eye against the peephole and instantly staggered back a few paces, his face pale as if he had just seen a ghost. Jason instinctively pulled out his gun but Dick gestured for him to lower it. No gun could save them from what was coming.

* * *

Seeing Bruce Wayne in his tailored suit, trying to get comfortable on Dick’s only couch inside the tiny Bludhaven apartment, that most likely cost less than the watch on his wrist, was a scary as well as a funny sight.

“Here,” Dick left a cup of tea on the table in front of Bruce, before stepping back to stand next to Jason.

The situation was awkward to say the least. Neither of them had seen or talked to Bruce since the day Jason got his memories back and for a second, Jason felt almost proud of himself, when he realized he didn’t want to punch his father nearly as much as he thought he did. Maybe becoming a father himself had somehow matured him.

“Thank you,” Bruce nodded, staring at his two eldest sons, hoping for one of them to say something, but all they did was stand completely still, arms crossed over their chest, glancing at each other with the same level of helplessness and absolute confusion. It’s been a long time since he last seen them in such good terms, maybe under different circumstances that would’ve made him happy.

“I suppose you want to go look for Talia,” Bruce spoke first, instantly revealing the reason of his visit.

“Did you?” Jason threw a dirty look at Dick.

“Tim told me,” Bruce added quickly, before Jason had the chance to pick a fight with Dick. “He was worried you might do something irrational.”

“I love how much this family trusts me,” said Jason, pretending to wipe a fake tear from his eye. 

Bruce didn’t look impressed by the theatrics or the guilt tripping.

“It’s not a matter of trust, Jason. We’re worried,” he said stiffly, glancing at Dick for help, who instead decided it was the right time to take a sip of his coffee.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about anything,” said Jason, choosing to keep his eyes on Sparky, who was swimming around his bowl without a care in the world. “Ra’s al Ghul stole my son, I’m not planning to let him get away with it.”

“This isn’t just about Damian. Talia will do anything and use anyone in order to bring her father back and if she succeeds in resurrecting Ra’s al Ghul, the whole world will be at stake,” warned Bruce in his hoarse voice.

“I don’t care much about the world, Bruce. I only care about my son, the one _you_ helped take away from me.” Jason pointed a finger at Bruce, “Also, how long have you known about Talia trying to resurrect her father?”

Bruce clearly didn’t want to answer this question but had no other choice.

“Ten months,” he said rather casually.

“Is that why Tim went to Europe?” Dick decided to make himself a part of the conversation, “He was working for you this whole time?”

Bruce nodded.

“Tim was the one who became aware of her plans and came to me with this case,” he admitted lightly.

“And neither of you cared to share that with the rest of the family,” pointed out Jason, “what a surprise.”

There was a moment of silence, during which everybody’s eyes were fixed on Sparky, all expect from Dick, who kept scrutinizing Bruce’s face with a sick feeling in his stomach. Bruce didn’t look like himself. He appeared to be stressed and even tired, a sight he was not used to seeing from his always strong and invincible father. No matter how much Dick tried to convince himself otherwise, he was sure there were a lot more secrets that the man wasn’t sharing with them.

“You have no business with Talia!” Bruce finally snapped.

“Oh really? Because I think I’m the only one who does!” Jason propelled himself forward.

“You don’t know her like I do. She will manipulate you, like she did back then!” yelled Bruce, glaring at his son.

Despite his best efforts, Jason had enough.

“She didn’t manipulate me to do anything! We loved each other! Not that you could ever understand that feeling, you’ve never loved anyone!” he barked at Bruce.

Dick quickly stood between them before this yelling contest escalated into something more physical. It was a reflex he had developed many years ago, when Jason first came into their lives.

But there was no fight to break because Bruce was exhibiting an impressive amount of self-restrain; which was quite unusual.

“Is that what you really think?” he asked in a low hoarse voice.

“Does it matter what I think?” Jason shrugged his shoulders, “you don’t care about my opinion anyway. You didn’t even care to tell me I have a son.”

“You weren’t ready” said Bruce in a tired sort of voice, as if he had spoken those words over a thousand times.

“That wasn’t your decision to make,” said Jason bitterly.

“Then how come you haven’t told Damian the truth? Doesn’t he deserve to know?” asked Bruce evenly.

Once again, Jason felt his anger getting the best of him.

“It’s not the same,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“It’s exactly the same. You hide the truth from him because you know he’s not ready to hear it. Because you’re his father and it’s your job to protect him,” Bruce stood up, grabbed his jacket and went towards the door. "I will not apologize for protecting my family!"

“I need to see her, Bruce, I need closure,” Jason called after him. “Just trust me for once in your life!”

“Stay out of this, Jason. It’s for your own good,” said Bruce and with these words, he opened the door and left.

“That went better than I thought,” sighed Dick, after he made sure Bruce was well out of earshot.

* * *

The air around him became thicker, blood was pounding in his ears, and soon he could hardly breathe. Unable to stay inside for much longer, Jason stormed out of the apartment and into the streets, where he always felt most comfortable.

He walked through narrow alleyways, taking random turns, trying to clear his mind of all the things that terrorized it. But no matter how hard he tried, Talia’s name kept finding its way back into his thoughts. He needed to see to her. He needed to understand why she took away his memories and why in those last ten years she didn’t come for him like she had promised. But most importantly, he needed to understand why she would ever consider bringing Ra’s al Ghul back to life.

He knew how much she loved and respected her father, despite all that he did to her, and he wasn’t in a position to judge her for it. He, too, loved Bruce despite all their problems and would do almost anything to please him. But Ra’s al Ghul stole their son, took away his childhood, and turned him into a weapon in his own war. And if Talia were to succeed in her plans, he would take Damian away from him once again. His entire body shuddered at that thought.

Completely absorbed in his own thoughts, Jason didn’t realize how he suddenly found himself in front of Damian’s school. It was nearly four o’clock in the afternoon, but the kid had his basketball tryouts after school so he would probably still be at the gym.

He stood outside, along with the other parents, waiting for Damian to come out. A few parents gave him a side look. Maybe it was because he looked too scruffy to be a parent, or maybe he just didn’t look old enough to have a kid in middle school. Either way, Jason fought the urge to give them the middle finger and instead forced a polite smile in their direction.

When Damian came out he looked more pleased than he had ever seen him. Usually Damian hated school. He was too smart for his age and because of that every class seemed boring and pointless. Plus, he had neither the skill nor the desire to socialize with any of his classmates, which meant that he had to spend those seven hours of every day by himself.

“How did the tryouts go?” asked him Jason, as soon as the boy came running up to him.

Damian didn’t answer and instead handed him over a piece of paper.

It was a list with the names of all the kids that made it into the team, and Damian’s name was right on the very top. Jason felt a surge of pride that almost made him forget about Talia. Who knew that middle school basketball could make a grown man so happy?

“Good job, my young Padawan!” Jason put the paper inside his pocket, and tried to ruffle Damian’s hair, but the boy quickly ducked out of the way to avoid him.

“How are your stitches? Did you feel them at all during tryouts?” asked Jason quite concerned. His wound was still fresh for him to be running around playing sports, but Damian had insisted on it.

The boy shook his head.

“They're fine. Turns out you’re not completely useless, Todd,” he said, ducking down again, this time to avoid a smack at the back of his head.

On their way back to the apartment, Jason kept on giving hints about the surprise that waited for Damian in his room, and even though Damian refused to show any type of enthusiasm, as soon as the front door opened, he immediately headed to his room. And sure enough, on his nightstand, next to a stack of Harry Potter books that he didn’t notice until later, stood a fish bowl with a small and rather bored-looking goldfish inside.

“His name is Sparky,” Jason introduced Sparky, looking down at Damian’s face, trying to guess if he liked the surprise or not. “I know he’s technically just a fish, but we can later get a dog or a cat, or a _snake_ …” he went on, seeing as Damian wasn’t saying anything.

“Did you feed him?” asked Damian after a few seconds, stepping closer to the bowl.

“No, I thought you might want to do that.”

“So you let him starve?” asked Damian with such terror in his voice one would think that the man in front of him was a monster, and quickly took hold of the little tube that stood next to the fishbowl that he guessed to be Sparky’s food.

Jason watched his son meticulously read the instructions, before carefully throwing a few shrimps inside Sparky’s bowl.

“Who will feed him while I'm at school?” asked Damian and without waiting for an answer, he added, “maybe I should quit and stay here to take care of him.”

Jason was about to distroy Damian's plans of dropping out of school, when the phone buzzed from his back pocket. He pulled it out, hoping it was a message from Cheshire who he had contacted an hour before, but to his great surprise it was text message from Bruce.

The message read, “Talia is set to arrive in Crete in ten days. She will use the Lazarus pit on Mount Ida.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Storm


	5. The Storm (Part 1)

Damian woke up at five o'clock but instead of instantly jumping out of his covers, like he did every other morning, he turned onto his side and took some time to observe Sparky, who seeing Damian awake began wagging his orange tail at him. Ever since the day Jason bought Sparky, the two of them had made several trips back to the pet store to buy a more spacious bowl and some toys. The theme they chose for the interior design of the fishbowl was: _Pirates of the Caribbean_. Therefore, Sparky’s new home was filled with plastic replicas of old sunken ships, human skeletons, several caves, treasure chests, and a batman action figure that Jason insisted on shoving inside one of the caves with only its grim, plastic head sticking out of it.

“Good morning, Sparky,” Damian slowly got out of his bed, putting great effort to suppress a groan. Every inch of his body was in constant pain from the countless injuries he had collected over the years, including his latest one that was yet to heal completely; probably because he insisted on going on patrol and exercising every single day. But the pain didn’t bother Damian, it was an unavoidable part of the job, one that he had accepted and learned to ignore a long time ago.

“Would you like some breakfast?” he asked Sparky tenderly, who in reply made a little spin for him.

Damian took hold of the box with the fish food and threw inside the bowl three large pellets, all of which Sparky began devouring at once. The boy always had a hard time not giving him more food after watching Sparky eat with such delight, but the instructions on the box were pretty clear about the feeding portions.

Biting down the pain, Damian began his morning workout under Sparky’s watchful eyes, who would often stop swimming between the caves and observe what his little human roommate was doing.

An hour later, after he was done with his workout and had a brief shower, he headed to the kitchen where he knew Jason would already be waiting for him with breakfast. Even though everything appeared to be just like any other regular day in Bludhaven, Damian couldn’t help but feel a strange energy in the air.

He reached the end of the hallway and stood still, scanning the apartment for anything that seemed out of order. There were three issues he noticed immediately:

1) Dick was nowhere to be seen.

2) There was a travel backpack at the side of the couch that he hadn’t seen the night before.

3) The expression on Jason’s face seemed as if he had a lot of news to share but didn’t know where to begin.

He sat quietly on a chair and allowed Jason to serve him a plate of eggs with bacon and a couple of slices of toast.

“You look pale,” said Jason, “how is your wound?”

“Fine,” said Damian, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably and hurried to change the subject, “Are you going somewhere?”

Jason noticed that Damian was looking at the backpack.

“Yes,” he nodded, “but don’t get too excited; I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Where are you going?” Damian looked up and bore his eyes into Jason’s, ready to detect any lie regardless of how well it was told. Jason returned the stare unflinchingly.

“Crete. An old friend of mine needs some help,” he said coolly.

Damian looked pleased and confused by that answer at the same time.

“When are you leaving?”

“In a few hours,” replied Jason in the same calm voice, and deciding it was his turn to change the subject, he said, “are you excited for your first game next week?”

Damian frowned.

“Not really,” he said darkly. “We’ll lose because my team and the coach are a bunch of soft imbeciles.”

“Yes, but they have you,” Jason pointed out, rather proudly.

Damian shook his head in agreement.

“I can take them all, as long as the other team is not freakishly tall,” he said trying his best to sound as indifferent as humanly possible.

Jason took a sip of his coffee to hide a smile. He had long noticed how much Damian hated being the smallest kid in his class and ever since he joined the basketball team, that dislike for his height had become even more apparent.

“Both your parents are tall, so you’ll grow up to be tall, too,” he said, unable to stop the words from coming out of his mouth, “But even if you don’t, being short has its advantages in battle.”

Damian allowed a faint smile to flicker in his mouth before changing back to his indifferent expression.

* * *

Jason spent most of the next few hours pacing around the apartment and checking his ticket and his passport, to make sure they were in his backpack and he didn’t by accident lose them or forget them in some drawer or table. His flight was at five o’clock in the evening and he wouldn’t arrive in Crete until almost fifteen hours later. There was a way to make this trip faster, but it included asking Bruce for one of his private jets (or stealing one of his private jets), but under the circumstances, that just didn’t feel like a bright idea.

“Are you ready?” asked him Dick, who watched Jason check for his passport and his ticket for a tenth time in the last hour.

“Yes,” replied Jason confidently, straightening his jacket. “I’m always ready!”

Dick knew him well enough to know he was lying, but before he had time to question him, Jason exclaimed, “All right, it’s time!” and headed to the door, even though it was only two o’clock.

“Damian!” Dick shouted towards the hallway, “Jason is leaving!”

 _“So?”_ Damian’s voice came from behind the closed door of his bedroom.

Dick and Jason exchanged an awkward glance.

“Don’t you want to say goodbye?” Dick tried again.

 _“Why should I?_ ” was Damian’s reply that made both brothers sigh.

“It’s okay,” said Jason to Dick’s apologetic expression, “just take care of him for me.”

Dick nodded firmly.

“And you, take care of yourself,” the two brothers shook hands and before the situation got too emotional for their liking, Jason opened the door and left.

* * *

“I should’ve stolen Bruce’s private jet,” Jason muttered to himself as he was entering the fourteenth hour of his flight, all of which he spent sitting next to a young woman, her husband, and their six-month-old baby, that cried for what felt like the entire flight.

“Damian didn’t cry that much at that age,” Jason remembered with a smirk of pride. “He was also a lot cuter than this baby,” he thought as he and the baby exchanged a look of mutual dislike.

Before Damian’s birth, Jason had never seen a baby, so he didn’t have anyone to compare him to. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop him from thinking that every sound, frown, or movement his son made was exceptional and further proof that he was destined for greatness. He couldn’t wait for Damian to grow up, watch him take his first steps, and speak his first words. If only someone had told him back then that he would miss all those moments. Jason grabbed the armrests of his seat and squeezed them till his knuckles turned white. Bruce had nothing to fear; he would rather die than let anyone bring back Ra’s al Ghul.

After he made it out of the airport, he stretched his arms and looked at the time on his phone. According to Bruce, Talia was supposed to arrive late in the afternoon at the port of Heraklion. That gave him a few hours to prepare mentally.

He went directly to the hotel, had a shower, fixed his hair in the mirror, and put on his best grey suit with a black button-down shirt underneath.

"Why am I trying so hard?" he asked himself, as he applied a few drops of perfume on his neck.

The whole preparation felt like he was getting ready for a first date. Realizing how ridiculous his actions were, he started undressing but his hands stopped before he reached the second button of his shirt. He quickly fixed his clothes once again, grabbed his coat, and exited the hotel room before he had the time to change his mind.

Stepping outside into the wind of late autumn, he felt the saltiness stick to his face and the cold air pierce through his clothes, as he walked the almost empty street. Thankfully, the hotel he picked was only a five-minute walk from the port, and at the distance, he could already see a ferry coming from Athens making its way to the docks.

He stood still and waited. He didn’t know for how long but before he had the chance to realize what was happening, the ferry had made its stop, the ramp was lowered, and the tens of passengers started making their way down.

Jason concentrated on the faces of the passengers, scanning every one of them as they came down the ramp, his heart beating faster with every passing moment when suddenly, his stomach dropped.

At the top of the ramp, only a few meters away from him, stood Talia al Ghul in a long black coat and her hair tied up in a ponytail. She looked as beautiful as the day he first saw her.

Their eyes met.

Unlike Jason, who could almost feel his soul escape his body, Talia didn’t look in the least disturbed to see him there, and if she was, she knew how to hide it well. She raised her hand and gave Jason a little wave from afar, which took him several seconds to process.

“I knew Bruce would send you,” she said once she finally reached him.

Jason wanted to speak but he was afraid about the condition of his voice. The last thing he wanted was to stutter in front of Talia. So he forced an indifferent expression on his drenched of all color face, and said with as much authority as he could muster, “we need to talk.”

* * *

Talia followed Jason back to his hotel room. On the whole way there they didn’t exchange as much as a single glance, and it was only when the door closed behind them that Talia said, “I missed you.”

Jason shuddered at the sound of those words.

“I guess I would’ve missed you too if I remembered you,” he muttered stiffly.

Talia didn't say anything. She allowed herself some time to take off her coat, revealing a black dress, which despite its simplicity highlighted perfectly every curve of her body, and gracefully sat at the edge of the bed, before turning back to Jason.

“I understand you’re angry and you have every right to be, but deep down you know I had no other choice,” Jason didn’t look very convinced, so she continued, “My father had asked me to kill you. Taking your memories and sending you away was a compromise I was willing to make to save your life.”

“You promised you’d come back for me,” he muttered, instantly disappointed at how childish and whiny his voice sounded.

Talia sprang to her feet and stood in front of Jason, who gave another involuntary shudder at being so close to her.

“And I did! Right after my father was killed I came to find you! But Bruce --” she paused at the memory of the night she was forced to take Damian to Gotham, “Ra's al Ghul was dead, the League was weak, and I was hunted down by every enemy my father had ever made. I couldn't keep Damian without putting his life in danger, so Bruce promised to take care of him, as long as I promised to stay away from you. That's why I stole the flask from the All-Caste and guided you to your memories!”

Jason forced his eyes away from her. He had forgotten the effect her presence had on him. All the anger, the fear, and the questions that had been torturing him since he got his memories back had all disappeared as if by magic.

“Bruce knows about the Lazarus pit on mount Ida. He won’t let you bring him back,” he announced, peeking at Talia out of the corner of his eye, only to see that the expression on her face had remained unchanged.

“It’s not up to Bruce,” she said confidently.

For a split second, Jason considered telling her that Tim and Bruce were on their way to collect the coffin and that her plan to resurrect Ra’s al Ghul had already failed, but on second thought, this was probably not a very wise idea, so instead he asked, “After everything he’s done why would you even consider it?”

“Because he is my father, and this is my mission,” she replied, evidently surprised that Jason would ask such a question.

“And what about Damian?”

“What about him?”

They exchanged a look of mutual confusion. 

“When Ra’s al Ghul comes back, the first thing he’ll do is take Damian away from us,” Jason felt his heart beating faster as he put his greatest fear into words.

“Damian was never meant to be ours. He was born to lead the Assassins and my father will train him until he is ready to succeed him.”

“You can’t be serious!” Jason cried out.

Talia didn’t appreciate his tone.

“Don’t act so innocent, Jason,” she snapped at him, “you knew exactly the kind of life he would be forced to lead and you agreed on it!”

Talia was telling the truth. He always knew that all Ra’s al Ghul wanted from the pair was an heir to his legacy and Damian was brought into this world destined to be just that; and he had agreed to it. He wholeheartedly believed in the importance of the League and subscribed to all of their ideas. He even felt proud of his son’s destiny, but that was then…

“It was a mistake,” he lowered his eyes in shame.

Talia grabbed his face and forced it up.

“Our son is not a mistake!”

“We are his parents, Talia. It was our job to protect him and we failed him,” muttered Jason, his skin burning beneath her touch. “But there’s still time to fix it. He can still be a normal kid.”

“No, he can’t,” a sad smile passed over Talia’s lips, “he’s so much more than just _normal._ ”

Jason pushed her hands away from him.

“Why would you give me back my memories if you planned to take Damian away from me?” he tried to yell but his voice came out broken. 

A glow came over Talia’s eyes as if she was patiently waiting for this question this entire time.

“Because I want you to come with us,” she said coolly. 

Jason stopped pacing and turned to her.

“Come where?”

“To the Infinite Island.”

Jason felt the little color he had left escape from his face. A lifetime ago this was their dream.

“Ra’s al Ghul will never let that happen,” he said dismissively.

“He will if he wants Damian!” said Talia confidently. “The circumstances have changed. It’s time we make a new deal with him.”

Bruce had warned him that Talia would try and manipulate him into switching sides. And with dread, Jason realized Bruce was right not to trust him for he caught himself considering that proposal.

Sensing Jason’s indecisiveness, Talia walked to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Do you remember how happy we used to be?” she asked him softly.

“Of course I do,” he whispered back to her.

How could he not? When he was brought to the island, he was more dead than he was alive. He was bedridden for weeks, tormented by nightmares, forced to relive over and over again the final moments of his life, and when he finally woke up he had to face Bruce’s betrayal. Knowing that Joker was still alive after what he had done to him, hurt him more than his own death. In all those times, it was Talia who saved him. He could see her shadow sitting by his bed, day and night, looking over him like a guardian angel. The sound of her voice offered him protection and a way back whenever he would get lost inside his head. Talia’s love saved his life. It got him out of that bed and back into the real world. She gave him family, purpose, and the chance to build a new life away from Robin.

“That’s what we always wanted, Jason. We can finally make that happen,” said Talia, holding Jason’s hands in her own to stop them from shaking and tenderly kissed the side of his head. “We can be parents to our son, and maybe, after we get to know each other again, we can even be something more.”

“Talia --” he began but his words were interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. “I have to get this.”

Jason pulled the phone out of his pocket and instantly rolled his eyes.

“As always, you have great timing, bro,” he shot at his phone.

“ _Are you sitting down?_ ” asked Dick with a note of panic in his voice.

“Why? What happened?”

“ _Damian ran away while I was at work,_ ” announced Dick, and before Jason’s stunned silence turned into a series of screams, he quickly added the rest of Damian’s accomplishments, _“he stole one of the Wayne enterprises private jets, and is flying to Crete as we speak._ ”

Dick sent a photo of a note with Damian’s handwriting:

> _Richard,_
> 
> _Please feed Sparky three pellets from the brown box on my desk, two times a day._
> 
> _I will be back from Crete in a couple of days._
> 
> _Best regards,_
> 
> _Damian._

Jason was reading the note when a terrifying thought entered his head.

“Is he flying it by himself?” he asked, trying to imagine his tiny eleven-year-old, navigating an entire jet from Gotham all the way to a different continent.

“ _No, he kidnapped a pilot,_ ” Dick calmed him down.

Jason heaved a sigh of relief.

“Does Bruce know about this?”

“ _He’s the one who told me,_ ” said Dick with a tone that implied this was not a very fun conversation, “ _So if you want to continue having a son, I suggest you get to him before Bruce does._ ”

Jason hung up the phone and looked at Talia, who had not missed a single word the two brothers exchanged, and yet for once again, she didn’t appear to be surprised or disturbed by this unexpected turn of events. In fact, she looked almost pleased.

“A real family reunion is coming,” she said with a smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: The Storm (Part 2)


	6. The Storm (Part 2)

Jason stepped out a silver taxi and watched as it drove away. He found himself alone, in an empty lot just outside of Heraklion, where, according to Dick, Damian’s jet was expected to land.

Under different circumstances, he wouldn’t trust Talia to stay out of his sight for one second, much less a few hours, but as luck would have it, he had received a message from Tim about three hours earlier, letting him know that Ra’s al Ghul’s body was now in Batman’s custody. Without the body, Talia was almost harmless. So he was very pleased when she agreed to stay at the hotel and wait for him, even though she appeared to be disappointed that there wasn’t going to be a _family reunion_. 

Talia probably had hoped that with Damian on her side, it would be easier to convince him to become her accomplice; therefore, Jason had decided it was best for everyone if Damian didn’t see them together, even though he was certain that the boy knew his mother was in Crete –for no matter how hard he racked his brains during the two-hour drive from the hotel to the location, he could not think of a different reason for Damian to sneak out of the apartment, hijack a Wayne Enterprises jet, and follow him to Crete, other than to help his mother bring back Ra’s al Ghul.

And so, Jason rushed to the location by himself with only one mission in his mind: to find Damian and force him back to Bludhaven as quickly as possible.

Ten minutes later, the jet landed smoothly on the ground, the door slid open, and Damian appeared.

“Hope you enjoyed your little trip, now get your butt back to Bludhaven,” Jason pointed a threatening finger at his son, who for some reason was dressed in his Robin costume.

The boy ignored him and hopped down onto the pavement.

“I’m not playing, Damian!” said Jason firmly, “I don’t know what you’re up to but I don’t have time for it.”

“You have less time than you think,” said Damian dryly. 

Jason could feel his patience running out.

“Get back on that plane,” he gritted through his teeth and made a step towards the boy, who refused to move a muscle.

“No wonder Richard thinks you’re a handful, you never listen.” Damian crossed his arms sternly in a way that reminded him of Dick. “We need to go find my mother before it’s too late.”

Jason didn’t know what to say to that. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before eventually asking, “How do you know Talia is here?”

Damian managed to roll his eyes all the way back to his skull.

“I know _everything_ ,” he said arrogantly and glanced around the lot, “So, where is she? Did you lose her already?”

“I didn’t lose her,” said Jason indignantly. “Your mother is in the city and she is waiting for me, so the sooner you get back on that plane, the sooner I get to talk to her.”

Once again, Damian rolled his eyes.

“You really think my mother is waiting for you?” He looked at him with utmost disappointment. “I have to admit, I’m surprised. I didn’t know you were so–” He paused, trying hard to come up with the right word.

“— _naive_ ,” he said with the kind of tone that suggested this wasn't the word he wanted to use at all.

Jason was now starting to get very annoyed.

“What do you mean?”

“My mother is already on her way to Mount Ida to resurrect my grandfather. We must stop her before she does!”

Jason grimaced as a huge weight had suddenly been lifted off his chest. Damian wasn’t there to help his mother. He was there to help him!

“And how do you know that?” he asked. For all he knew, Damian hadn’t seen or talked to Talia in over a year.

“Because I know my mother. I know how she operates.” Damian waved his hands around impatiently, clearly thinking that this conversation was a waste of their time.

“That may be,” said Jason calmly, “but you’re wrong. Talia doesn’t have anything to resurrect. Bruce and Tim have Ra’s al Ghul’s body.”

“They have _a_ body. It’s nothing but a decoy. Lex Luthor also has one,” said Damian and frustrated by the disbelief in Jason’s face, he continued, “My grandfather’s real corpse arrived today with the same ferry as my mother, but _you_ were too busy ogling her to notice it. This was her plan from the beginning, to distract you!”

Jason raised an eyebrow.

Ra’s al Ghul died over a year ago. At this point, his body should be decomposed beyond recognition; even Bruce would need a few hours to run a DNA test. and he was not the only person who was trying to stop Talia from bringing him back. Ra’s al Ghul had a lot of enemies, and most of them were a lot more dangerous than Batman. Hence, if she wanted to succeed, she had to come up with a plan to fool them all into thinking they had already stopped her. But how could Damian know all those things? He made a mental note to interrogate the boy once he got the chance.

“We need to get to Mount Ida.” Jason strode towards the jet but stopped halfway through, and wheeled around to look at the boy, “And I wasn’t _ogling_!”

Once inside the jet, Damian pointed at a bag on one of the seats, “I brought your stuff.”

Jason drew closer and unzipped the bag to find his beloved Red Hood helmet staring back at him. It was only then he realized he was still wearing in a suit.

“I see you got my favorite guns! Good job, my young Padawan,” said Jason, tenderly holding a machine gun on his one hand and a custom-made M1911 pistol (courtesy of Roy Harper) on the other, and quickly proceeded to change into his costume.

* * *

Just as Dick had warned him, Damian had kidnapped a pilot. His name was Andy Johnson and he was about Jason’s age, though unlike Jason, he was able to grow facial hair. His thick, well-trimmed beard was soaking wet, with what Jason guessed to be, his own sweat. Evidently, being kidnapped by a bossy, eleven-year-old Robin, was a very traumatic experience for Mr. Johnson, who immediately started shaking the moment Damian entered the pilot’s cabin.

“Hello, Mr. Johnson,” said Jason softly.

The man squealed at the sight of another masked vigilante, especially since this one was branded as a ruthless killer.

“It’s okay, Mr. Johnson, everything is going to be okay,” said Jason, with the same tone he would use to calm down a scared puppy. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Wayne Enterprises will give you a big promotion after this _little_ adventure. But we won’t be needing your services anymore.”

The pilot remained frozen, his eyes round with fear. Jason made an attempt to help the man out of his seat, but at his touch alone, Mr. Johnson gave one final squeal and fainted.

“What the hell did you to this guy?” he turned to Damian, who shrugged his shoulders.

After setting Mr. Johnson down at the back of the jet, Jason returned to the cabin and sat on the pilot seat. Within minutes, the aircraft with the Wayne logo plastered on its side, was back on the air, heading towards Mount Ida.

“So, I take it you don’t want your grandfather back,” spoke Jason after a few minutes of awkward silence.

“What’s dead should stay dead,” said Damian strongly, glancing sideways at Jason to see his reaction.

“At least there's one thing we can agree on,” replied Jason, playfully. He spent the best part of the last decade wishing Talia had never found him. To die in the line of duty and be remembered as a hero by those who once loved him was better than to be reborn into a life fueled by hatred and revenge... 

“But what if she succeeds?” Damian’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He had never heard Damian sound so scared before.

“Then, your grandfather will probably want you to go back to the Infinite Island,” he said, and after a brief moment of silence, he asked, “Do you want to go back?” 

Damian frowned.

“What I want doesn’t matter.” Despite the boy’s best efforts, his voice came out shaking, which he tried to cover up with a cough.

“Of course it does,” said Jason flatly.

“I will have to do what’s good for my family.”

“You have family here, too.”

“Who, Batman?” said Damian, letting out a snort.

Jason squeezed the control wheel a little too tightly and felt the jet dangerously lean to the left side. He spent the next several seconds trying to balance the aircraft, while a sudden urge to tell Damian the truth came over him. If the boy was willing to follow Talia back to the Island simply out of duty, maybe if he knew he had a father who wanted to be a part of his life, he would reconsider. Or, he would feel so terribly betrayed and disappointed that his father is the useless and insane Jason Todd, instead of the great Batman, that he would gladly return to the Infinite Island, just so that he never had to see him again.

“Damian, there’s something you need to know,” he began but Damian quickly cut him off.

“It will have to wait,” the boy pointed outside the window, “We’re here.”

* * *

They landed on Mount Ida. The sun had already started to set, and by the time they reached the Idaean Cave, it was pitch dark.

According to the Greek Mythology, Zeus, the God of thunder, was raised inside the Idaean cave, hidden away from his father, Cronus, who due to a prophecy, believed one of his children would bring his downfall, and to avoid such fate, he had come to the only reasonable conclusion to swallow all of his children. Zeus was saved by his mother, Rhea, shortly after his birth and was sent to the cave to be raised by nymphs, until he was old enough to bring down his father, and rule the world in his place. Though the story was fascinating, it didn’t mention anything about a Lazarus pit being located inside the cave.

“Are you sure this the right cave?” asked Damian. He had reached the opening first and was now scanning the perimeter, with his katana tightly clenched in his hand.

Jason, too, was surprised. He expected the mountain, and especially the area closer to the cave, to be crawling with members of the League. But on second thought, Talia was probably just trying to be discreet and not attract the attention of locals and enemies alike.

“It has to be,” he said and went inside.

The first part of the cave was large, with a high ceiling, and lit with a great number of lights embedded into the walls, but as they walked deeper, in the tourist-restricted area, it started to become darker and narrower. Soon, Jason could no longer fit and was forced to drop to his hands and knees, and crawl.

“See, I told you being short has its advantages,” he said to Damian, who had no trouble walking upright inside the cave as if it was made exactly for someone his size.

Jason kept crawling and was happy to realize that after a few minutes, the cave was starting to become wider, and soon he could stand up without running the danger of splitting his head open on a sharp rock.

He opened a light that was on his helmet and was shocked to see how many spiders were around him. For someone who grew up inside a cave, much like Zeus, Jason wasn’t a big fan of spiders, rodents, bats, and every other living creature that could usually be found in such spaces.

“Well, that’s disgusting,” he muttered to himself, flicking a large spider off his shoulder.

“Focus!” Damian hissed at him and pointed to a dim light coming from the other end, “That should be it.” He prodded Jason on the back.

Red Hood walked across the cave, forcing each step to be lighter and quieter than the other. Once he came closer, he heard the sound of several voices. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but if he judged by their tone, they were arguing. He skillfully leaned forward and counted at least three people, all of them were dressed in black and had their faces covered with masks.

Damian was getting ready to walk right inside when Jason stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

“We don’t know how many of them are there, we need a plan.”

“I don’t need a plan to speak to my mother,” hissed Damian and tried to squeeze himself out of Jason’s grip, which became tighter the more he fought.

“Your mother is not just your mother. She’s the leader of the League of Assassins,” he said sharply.

Damian recognized the truth in those words and stopped fighting him.

“Stay here,” he let go of Damian’s shoulder, “I mean it, stay here.”

Damian clearly didn’t like being bossed around. He stomped his leg like a wild horse, but to Jason’s delight, he did as he was told.

Jason gave him another warning look, which he hoped looked much more menacing due to his helmet and walked through the opening to the second cave. He didn't have a plan either, but if there was something he learned from Dick, is that the whole: “jump first, think later” isn’t always a bad idea.

As he entered the second room of the cave, he immediately noticed a small pool filled with bright green water, and with her feet already inside of it, stood Talia. On the rocks next to her lay a long object wrapped in white sheets.

“I thought you said you’ll wait for me at the hotel,” Jason spoke in a loud voice, making every assassin turn to him and pull out their katanas. He used this opportunity to count them all and make a mental note of their exact locations. There were only seven of them. Three were standing on the rocks next to him, while the rest were on the other side, closer to Talia and the pit.

“Where is Damian?” Talia asked him, calmly.

“On his way back to Bludhaven,” he lied quickly, before turning to the rest of the assassins, “hello, guys. Long time no see. You all look great! Love the new unifo--”

“Did you consider my proposal?” Talia interrupted.

“I did…”

“And do you have an answer?”

“Let’s talk about this in private.” And with those words, seven small batarangs, the size of a razor blade, came flying out of Jason’s fingers at the same time, and each of them found their target in the arms and legs of the respective assassins.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that,” snorted one of them, looking at a tiny scratch on her arm.

“Well, now it’s our turn,” said the one next to her, and tried to raise his katana but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t. His body quickly went numb and before he had time to figure out what was happening to him, he fell onto the ground with a loud thud. His companions followed him one after the other.

“Don’t worry, it’s a paralyzing toxin, you’ll be fine in a couple of hours.” Jason stood over them. “Batman makes me use them, you know how he gets when I kill people,” he explained to Talia with a shrug.

“Jason, if I snap my fingers, fifty more of those will show up,” said Talia, looking unimpressed at the unconscious bodies of her employees.

“I know,” Jason assured her, “but you won’t.”

“You can’t stop this from happening,” said Talia, placing her hands on the sheets, ready to drag the contents of it into the water.

“You don’t have to do this, mother!” Damian shouted, coming out of his hiding spot to stand next to Jason.

Talia looked at her son as if she was seeing him for the first time in her life.

“I’m disappointed in you, Damian,” she said, once she came over the initial shock, watching Damian turn red at the sound of her words, “I thought you of all people would understand why I must do this.”

“Grandfather is dead,” stated Damian, slightly raising his voice, but his eyes were still glued on the ground.

“But we can bring him back!” cried Talia, “just like I brought you, Jason.”

“I was dead for a few weeks when you used the Lazarus pit on me.” Jason pulled out his helmet and threw it to the side, “And it took months before I could as much as speak! He has been dead for over a year. What you bring, won’t be your father. It will be a monster.”

“You don’t understand, none of you do!” she yelled, though Jason could see her grip on the sheets loosening.

“Whether you like it or not, you are the leader of the League now,” he said, taking a careful step towards Talia.

“I was never supposed to be. I was never trained to take over.”

“And yet, you are more than capable.”

Jason's words came out with such sincerity, a faint smile appeared on Talia’s pale lips.

“Damian is the rightful leader and my father is the only one who can train him,” she said desperately.

“Damian is a child,” Jason corrected her.

“I’m not a child!” the boy interjected, but both adults acted as if nobody had spoken.

“When he grows up he can choose what he wants to be, but for now, being a kid is hard enough,” said Jason and softened his tone, “Ra's al Ghul is gone and I know it must be scary. I watched my brother suffer as he tried to fill Batman’s cowl, and even though I never believed anyone could ever replace Batman, he did. You are born to be a leader, Talia. It won’t be easy, but if there’s one person out there that can do it, it’s you.”

A whimper escaped Talia’s lips as her knees hit the rocky bottom of the pit. Jason was quick to jump into the water, wrap his hands around her, and let her head rest on his shoulder. Talia had never had the chance to mourn the loss of her father, the father that she feared as much as she admired, and was somehow never enough for...

* * *

Jason carried Ra’s al Ghul’s body back to the jet and placed it next to the pilot, who proceeded to faint for a second time after Jason kindly explained to him that inside those sheets was a dead body.

With Damian being busy giving Dick a full report of the events that took place inside the cave, Jason decided to take advantage of the last few minutes he had alone with Talia.

“Will you be okay?” he asked her.

“Sure, once I figure out how to explain to Sensei and the others why I let a bat-kid ruin our plans,” said Talia flatly.

Jason smiled.

“You know I can’t come with you to the Island, but if you meant what you said about wanting us to be a family, I can share a couch with you in Bludhaven,” he said, and in an attempt to make the offer more appealing, he added, “ _or_ we can get a house together.”

“I have to lead the League until Damian is ready to take over, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

“The offer will always be open,” he took Talia’s hand into his.

“Take care of him,” she said. 

Jason leaned closer to kiss her on the lips before quickly stepping back as he heard Damian come out of the pilot’s cabin.

“So, what did Dick say?” he asked awkwardly, fixing his eyes on the roof of the jet.

“We must bring grandfather’s body to Gotham, Batman will keep it safe,” said Damian, looking suspiciously from Talia to Jason, before resting his eyes on his mother, “Mother, I request your permission to return to Gotham,” he began in his most formal tone, “you sent me to Gotham to live with my biological father and get to know him. But since I have only recently met him, I would like a chance to complete my mission before I return to the Island.”

Jason’s head turned so fast, his neck cracked.

“You have only _recently_ met your father?” asked Talia cautiously, as if to make sure she heard him right.

“Yes,” said Damian casually and glanced pointedly over his shoulder at Jason.

“You… you know that –”

“That you’re my father, yes.” Damian casually helped him complete his sentence. 

Speechless, Jason dropped on the seat that was closest to him, which happened to be the one next to the unconscious pilot and across from Ra’s al Ghul’s corpse.

“How long have you known?” he asked in a low voice, every inch of him trembling.

“I found out about ten minutes after you did,” said Damian matter-of-factly.

Jason quickly forced his thoughts back to that warehouse in Qurac, on the day he got his memories back.

“You eavesdropped on me and Dick?”

Damian snorted.

“I didn’t have to. The way you were screaming, everybody in the world could hear you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything this whole time?”

“Why didn’t you?” Damian shot back at him defensively and turned to his mother before Jason had the chance to answer, “Do I have your permission, mother?”

Talia, who was clearly just as taken aback as Jason, nodded slowly.

“Yes, you have my permission,” she said.

“Thank you,” said Damian and with those words, turned his back on his parents and returned to the pilot’s cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: A New Beginning


	7. A New Beginning

During most of the flight back to Gotham, Jason and Damian didn’t see or talk to each other. Jason was in the cockpit, navigating the jet, while Damian, to Mr. Johnson’s terror, sat in the back and played games on his phone. But that didn't stop Jason from feeling better than he had felt in years. Damian knew he was his father and not only he didn’t run away, but he also chose to live with him! There wasn’t anything more he could’ve asked. Nevertheless, he was still angry at himself for not realizing sooner that Damian knew the truth. After all, he had been giving him clues for weeks now.

“ _I know everything._ ” Damian’s arrogant words echoed in his head. Not to mention he had stopped referring to Bruce as ‘ _father’_ , and would only address him as ‘ _Batman’_.

It wasn’t until they entered the eighth hour of their flight that Damian got up, causing Mr. Johnson to flinch, and moved toward the cockpit. He slid the door open, threw himself on the co-pilot’s seat, and spent several minutes looking blankly at his reflection on the black screen of his phone.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason breathed out heavily.

“About what?” asked Damian, in a falsely innocent voice.

Jason was starting to get the impression that the boy enjoyed making him uncomfortable.

“About me… being… being your father,” he said stiffly.

“Ah, _that_ ,” said Damian casually, as if Jason had just reminded him to do his homework. “What’s there to talk about?”

Silence fell between them again. Jason didn’t know what to say, but he still felt like he had to say something. At last, he managed to force out the words, “I didn’t know you were my son. I had my memories taken."

“I know.”

“It’s not your mother’s fault either, she did what she thought was best.”

“I know.”

“And Bruce… Well, it is kind of his fault.” Jason had to stop himself, “But he also did what he thought was best for us.”

“I know”

“If I'd known… I would've never left you...” Jason had to stop himself again; he could feel his hands shaking with anger. “I should’ve known. I will never forgive myself for all the years I lost.”

Damian didn’t say anything, but there was a self-satisfied twitch at the corners of his mouth that was hard to miss.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m disappointed at myself too for believing that Bruce Wayne is my father,” he sighed bitterly, “especially after the way my mother and grandfather spoke of my real father.”

Jason seriously doubted whether Ra’s al Ghul was capable of saying anything nice about anyone, but he was curious to know what Talia had told their son about him. Damian seemed to have guessed his thoughts.

“She used to say my father is fun. Bruce Wayne is _not_ fun,” Damian shuddered as if even the idea of Bruce doing anything remotely fun gave him goosebumps, “but then again, she also said that my father is smart and capable of greatness, so you might not be my father either,” he added savagely.

“Well, at least I’m fun,” Jason murmured indignantly, and hurried to change the subject, “by the way, how _do_ you know everything?”

There was a sudden evil glow on Damian’s green eyes.

“I hacked your computer,” he announced, clearly very impressed by his own brilliance. “Also, I hacked Drake’s, Batman’s, and my mother’s.

Jason felt his jaw drop. 

“But since I’ve known my way around the Bat-computer for some time, hacking Drake was the only real challenge,” the boy added, in a failed attempt to sound humble.

“You are such a brat...” Jason scolded, but in spite of himself he sounded impressed

“So I’ve been told,” said Damian with an indifferent shrug and fell deeper into his chair.

* * *

The events of the next twelve hours happened so quickly that when Jason found himself awake on his Bludhaven couch the next morning, he couldn’t help but wonder whether he had dreamt everything.

Once the jet had landed in Gotham, Damian and Jason set off to find Dick, who was already waiting for them near a Wayne Enterprises warehouse. He was wearing his Nightwing costume and a very relieved expression on his otherwise exhausted face. He quickly escorted Mr. Johnson back to the Wayne building, at which point the man fainted for a third time, though this time it was from the happiness and relief, and then proceeded to help Jason and Damian transfer Ra’s al Ghul’s body to the bat-cave.

Naturally, Bruce wasn’t too happy about Damian stealing his jet or about Jason’s decision to not inform him immediately about having the wrong body and instead choosing to handle the matter on his own; Therefore, their visit to Gotham was short and mostly unpleasant, even though Alfred made sure they all left with an invitation to spend that year's Christmas at the manor. 

Jason pulled the blanket off him and stood up with unexpected ease.

“I think my back is getting used to this couch,” he told Dick, who had just come out of his room, still in his pajamas.

"About that." Dick let out a loud yawn, "You can have my bedroom."

"You're volunteering to sleep on the couch?" Jason eyed him suspiciously.

"No, I just thought it's about time I move out. You know, give the two of you some space.”

Jason groaned as if someone had just punched him straight in the stomach.

“Don’t you dare!” he shouted.

“I thought you hated having me as a roommate,” said Dick, taken aback by Jason’s reaction.

“I do!” Jason assured him, “you are messy and annoying, and your taste in music is embarrassing!”

“Perfect! Then I’ll take my music and go listen to it elsewhere,” Dick shot back cheerfully and walked to the sink to pour himself a glass of water.

“No!” Jason banged his fist on the kitchen counter.

“Jay, the apartment is too small for all of us.”

“We can find a bigger one!”

Dick shook his head dismissively, a few droplets of water escaping from his mouth.

“It would be nice for you two to be alone. I’m sure it will help you to get to know each other better.”

Jason stood still for a few moments, but Dick knew better than to think this eerie silence meant his brother had given up. If anything, he could see Jason's mind working at the same intensity as whenever he was trying to come up with an excuse good enough to get himself out of trouble with Bruce.

“If you stay, I will do your laundry every day,” he proposed after careful consideration. "I will even wash that stupid costume of yours."

Dick sighed. 

“Jay,” he began patiently but Jason cut him off.

“I can’t be alone with him,” he said, a note of genuine panic in his voice.

Dick smiled kindly.

“Sure you can. I was barely any help anyway,” he said, and as though to twist the dagger deeper into Jason’s gut, he added, “I will start looking for a new apartment today; I’ll make sure it’s in the neighborhood.”

Damian stepped out of his room just as Jason was ready to make another offer.

“No breakfast?” he pouted at the empty counter. He hadn't come across such a disheartening sight for as long as Jason lived with them.

“It’s his fault,” said Jason pointing at Dick and grumpily started going through the fridge, grabbing eggs and a milk carton.

Damian jumped on an empty chair next to Dick, his eyes following Jason's every move.

“I want cheese in my omelet, To--” He stopped. He was used to calling Jason ' _Todd',_ but it somehow felt wrong now that the truth had come out, though calling him ‘ _father’_ also didn’t feel right.

Jason turned to look at him.

“It’s okay. For now, you can call me however you like,” he said as if he could read Damian’s mind.

The boy nodded, still looking dazed.

“I, on the other hand,” started Dick pompously, “will not take anything other than _Uncle_ Dick or _Uncle_ Richard. And if we’re on the job, _Uncle_ Nightwing!”

Jason glanced over his shoulder at Damian, who was now rolling his eyes at Dick, and felt an overwhelming amount of affection soaring through him. _That bratty kid was h_ _is_ _son…_ _He was now a father… A real father,_ he thought and his stomach gave a little anxious jolt. He still didn't have the slightest idea of how to be a father and this traitor, Dick, was planning to leave him to figure it out all by himself. But somehow, as he watched Damian launch himself into a full attack on Dick, he couldn’t help but feel that everything was going to be just fine… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of part two of this series!
> 
> Part three will follow soon and it will be titled: "The war at home".  
> It will be set in Gotham and will include a couple of new characters, like Jon Kent and Superman. Also, Tim will be a much bigger part of the story!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this story and for all the lovely comments, hope you all have a great day/night! :)


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